Ed Miliband will promise a “better deal” for first-time buyers by axing stamp duty on homes priced up to £300,000.

His plan, which positions Labour as the party of aspiration just 10 days before the election, would save up to £5,000 on the cost of moving.

The landmark policy comes a day after the Labour chief promised to help tenants by capping rents.

Bookies have now slashed the odds of Mr Miliband becoming the next PM to an odds-on 4/7, compared with 11/8 for Tory David Cameron.

In a speech in Stockton, Teesside, he will say: “It is simply too expensive for so many young people to buy a home today, saving up for the deposit, paying the fees and having enough left over for the stamp duty.

“So we’re going to act so we can transform the opportunities for young working people in our country.

Stamp duty: Ed Miliband will scrap it

“For the first three years of the next Labour government, we will abolish stamp duty for all first-time buyers of homes under £300,000.”

After outlining a series of measures to tackle the housing crisis, he will add: “It is a better deal for housing, a better start for the next generation, a better plan, a better future for Britain.”

Stamp duty is a one-off tax on buying a home priced above £125,000.

The rate is 2% for properties up to £250,000 and 5% for those above that.

With the average price in England and Wales about £270,000, scrapping the tax would help 90% of buyers.

A Labour source praised the well-timed piece of election magic and said: “This shows it is Labour, not the Tories, who are the party of aspiration.”

Mr Miliband will point to figures showing people getting on the property ladder are now aged 33 on average, while 11 million people are renting.

To pay for it, Labour will crack down on tax avoidance by landlords, cut tax relief for those who fail to improve shoddy properties and hike tax on holding companies which snap up UK homes for foreign investors.

Labour will also raise stamp duty by 3% on UK properties bought outside the EU.

To help first-time buyers stay in their local area, Labour will make it illegal to advertise properties abroad before they are offered at home.

A change to planning rules means at least 50% of new builds would also be offered to local residents.

And Labour is pledging to deliver a million new homes by 2010.

Campbell Robb, of housing charity Shelter, welcomed Labour’s plans.

He said: “The only way to give Generation Rent a fighting chance of their own home is to tackle the housing crisis by building the ­affordable homes we desperately need.”

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